A meal plan, as the name suggests, is a plan that determines the frequency, amount, and type of food intake. The development of a nutrition plan should always depend on the goal pursued. If this is a meal plan to support muscle building, it is obviously very different from a plan to improve digestion or detoxify the body. A very large selection of diet plans is already available online. Diet plans that are used to gradually lose weight are especially popular.

They are especially suitable for those who turn to the wrong, too fatty and too sweet foods too quickly. Due to the strict specification of dishes, one should not even succumb to the temptation to “sin”. A meal plan, regardless of the purpose for which it is created, is usually designed for several weeks or months. Meals are indicated exactly for each day. Typically, snacks and complementary foods such as pastries, etc., are also taken into account to increase and maintain motivation. The diet plan can either be formulated by a nutritionist and tailored to your personal requirements, or you can use one of the many free diet plans available on internet portals, health insurance companies or similar agencies.

Basically, of course, you can create your own meal plan yourself. But you must not only plan the time for this, you must also have the appropriate basic knowledge. The timing of the main and intermediate meals naturally plays an important role here, but the composition of individual dishes is much more important.

How to create your own meal plan

No matter why you want to control or change your diet – whether for targeted gains in muscle mass or weight loss – you can of course create your own meal plan. This not only saves on the expense of a professional nutritionist, you can also choose food to a certain extent according to your preferences. However, it is important to follow a few rules when putting together your diet plan to be successful later. This includes, for example, choosing the right carbohydrates.

This nutrient is very important for the body, but here you can go wrong. Especially white flour products should be avoided as much as possible. Instead, you should include quality whole grains in your plan. If you like rice, you should include brown rice in your diet. “Good” carbohydrates support digestion and prolong the feeling of fullness. Several servings of vegetables and fruits are also very important, as they provide a lot of important vitamins and minerals. Thus, they should not be missed. They are also a very good supplier of liquids.

In addition, it is also advisable to put at least two liters of water or unsweetened tea on the plan. However, the hardest part of creating a meal plan is getting the right amount of calories each day. Those who are not particularly professional should consume about 2,000 calories. If you plan much lower, you risk the dreaded yo-yo effect. Too many calories, on the other hand, also reduce success. If you want your meal plan to be as healthy as possible, we advise you to skip prepared foods and avoid artificial flavor enhancers altogether. However, the most important of all the rules for making your own diet plan is variety. Only those who truly diversify their meal plan will stick to it.

Meal Plan to Support Strength Training

Anyone who has ever worked on strength training knows how closely muscle building and proper nutrition go hand in hand. Above all, choosing the right protein suppliers is especially important to achieve optimal muscle building. In addition to good proteins, high quality carbohydrates are also important for muscle growth. If you want to create a sensible meal plan to support your strength training on your own, you should focus primarily on fish, meat, eggs, and milk. These suppliers are not only very good protein suppliers, they are also high in fiber and vitamins.

If you want to perfectly tailor your diet for muscle building, you should plan on roughly 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. Of course, protein intake in the nutritional plan must also be in line with the training and regeneration phases. Therefore, on training days, you should take 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, on non-training days, for example, on weekends, you can reduce your intake to 1.2 grams of protein. An ideal breakfast for strength athletes is, for example, foods such as low-fat cottage cheese, cold cuts, cheese or soy products.

This already covers most of the daily protein requirement and is already well prepared for subsequent strength training. Snacks can also be very high in protein. When choosing sources of protein, you should always pay attention to the fat content. Unfortunately, many protein suppliers such as dairy or meat are sometimes very high in fat. It’s also important to eat something at least an hour after your workout. For this reason, many athletes use a variety of protein shakes. But you can also snack on high quality carbohydrates and proteins. However, it is important to choose high-quality carbohydrates such as whole grains.